The Hungarian soprano Maria Nemeth (1897-1967) was best known for her Turandot; no less than Lotte Lehmann, who was alternating with Nemeth in the role in Vienna, responded when asked about the part, “Yes, I like it–but only when Nemeth sings it.” On this CD Nemeth doesn’t sing anything from Turandot, but what we hear is a voice of incredible vibrancy, with a laser-like intensity, of very good size, capable of being scaled down to the most ravishing pianissimos (“D’amor sull’ali rosee” contains some singing to rival Milanov’s and Caballé’s, and the Forza excerpts come close). She phrases intelligently and with dramatic conviction (whether in Italian or German–some of the Italian arias are sung in translation), and unlike singers trained today to be either/or, her Aida is as credible, articulate, and poised as her Konstanze in Entführung. She rises fearlessly to the exposed high notes in Amelia’s second-act aria from Ballo and Aida’s “O patria mia”, and she spins long, sweet phrases everywhere.
Occasionally a top note can turn somewhat shrill, but these are always in tune and imbued with a passion that somehow mitigates any criticism. Less admirable are the smudged runs in “Martern aller arten”, taken at a startlingly fast pace. There are no register breaks (she’s not big on pushy chest tones; you won’t miss them), and her “Ach ich liebte” is as utterly fearlessly, girlishly tossed off as is her part of the Act 3 Aida/Amonasro duet (in German, with a big-voiced Emil Schipper).
I first heard a Nemeth recording about 20 years ago and wondered why she wasn’t better known; I still wonder. Listen to her “Ozean, du Ungeheuer”, complete with perfect trill, endless breath, and rock-solid high notes and you’ll wonder too. The transfers are spotless; the recordings, made in 1927 and 1929, could have been made in the early ’50s.
